Teetering on the Edge of Burnout? Don’t Avoid People

Teetering on the Edge of Burnout? Don’t Avoid People

As I’m sure you know, you can’t be happy all the time. In fact, happiness isn’t something we should expect or even want all the time. Rather, happiness (and other positive emotions) should be seen as just one piece in the complex puzzle that’s living a good life.

At the same time, we’ll all experience emotions that are far from happiness; and when we do, we don’t always do the best things to cope…

via Psychology Today by Susan Haas

One in four workers feels highly stressed, and up to 65 percent feel some degree of daily stress. We all have so much going on, and feel pulled in so many different directions, that burnout, or the threat of it, is a significant reality for many. A state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion, burnout results from continual high stress and heavy workloads. It’s a gradual, insidious phenomenon that sneaks up on you in such a way that it’s hard to realize that it’s happening.article continues after advertisement

Some of the symptoms of burnout are relational. If you are burning out, you start to withdraw socially. You don’t feel like hanging out with people or doing things you usually love to do. You may even begin to resent social invitations or family activities, experiencing them as intrusions on your desperately-needed free time.

When you are overworked and stressed you typically don’t have enough time for friends and family. You may stay at work late, bring work home with you, or work on weekends, cutting down your available social time. You may feel so exhausted that you can’t find the energy to socialize the way you used to.

Here’s the irony: Spending insufficient time with friends and family is a risk factor for burnout, so withdrawing in this way creates a vicious cycle and a downward spiral.

One of the key ways to overcome burnout and get back to normal is to deliberately spend more time with friends and family, even if it feels difficult to do so. These interactions should ideally involve pleasurable activities with minimal stress and strain, primarily with people who have positive energy (as opposed to those who sometimes drain your energy or add to your stress)…

… keep reading the full & original article HERE